I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Leena Al-Sayer is a refugee from a country at war, living on the edge of society in a country that doesn’t want her people. Her father is in prison for trying to unionize workers, her mother is long dead, and three years ago she fled her best position to date as a ladies maid in a Lord’s house before they discovered her newfound and unwanted power. Leena can see ghosts. Now, desperate for the expensive cure for her brother’s illness, Leena trades the only thing of value she has to the Saint of Silence, the man who buys confessions. In exchange for the medicine, Leena contracts to serve the terrifying and wholly unpleasant Saint until she finds the ghost of the last lord of Weavingshaw, the remote estate in the far north of the country.
Weavingshaw is a moody mix of gothic horror, dark fantasy, and restrained enemies-to-lovers romance. Through Leena and Rami, Weavingshaw highlights refugees’ hardships in a host country, from the extreme poverty, dismissive medical care, drugs, danger, and prejudice. Al-Wasity doesn’t hold back on any of the details here, but weaves them into the tapestry of the story. It’s worth noting that her author bio says Heba Al-Wasity writes due to her own experiences born in an Iraqi refugee camp in Libya, growing up in Canada, and going to med school in the UK. So, while Weavingshaw is a gothic fantasy horror, what she writes about the refugees rings true.
I know some of the reviews aren’t thrilled about the slow burn of the story overall, but I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing. It feels like a growing inescapable dread, and the evils and horrors that lie under the surface are dark enough to be especially believable in this day and age. I’m a little disappointed by the romance aspect of the story, only because the Saint is so deliciously cold and nasty I’d love to see that trope flipped and have someone continue to loathe throughout the tale, however it’s very well written so far (this is book one in a trilogy) and I’m willing to see where it continues in the next installment.
Weavingshaw is listed in Goodreads as gothic fantasy in a fantasy romance trilogy, but I’d put it in a gothic horror fantasy or dark fantasy romance, just so you know what you’re getting into. It has that slow, inexorable build of discomfort and creepy tension as Leena finds out more about the man she’s working for, his household, the nobility of the country her people have escaped into, and the dangers lurking in the dark. Weavingsahw is an excellent first book in the trilogy, and the end definitely makes the reader anxious for book two. I loved it.
No Pithy Phrase 